Siman 28

We maintain in Menachot (36b): A person is obligated to touch the tefillin at all times, based on an a fortiori argument from the tzitz: If regarding the tzitz, which contains only a single mention of the Name, the Torah said, "And it shall be upon his forehead always"—that he should not divert his mind from it—regarding tefillin, which contain many mentions of the Name, how much more so. The Rosh and the students of our teacher Yonah in his name in the third chapter of Berakhot (siman 28), and the Tur later in siman 44, have already written that it is not called diversion of the mind except when one is engaged in laughter and levity. But the intention is not that he should think of the tefillin every moment, for this is among the impossibilities: when he prays or studies, his thought is on that and not on the tefillin. Therefore, the sages permitted in Sukkah (26b) to sleep a brief sleep in tefillin, and there is no greater diversion of the mind than this. Rather, as long as he is not engaged in levity, we have no concern with it.

And one must say according to this that which we say, that one is obligated to touch them at every hour, this is its explanation: at every hour that he remembers them – he is obligated to touch them, in order not to come to a distraction of the mind (Bach and Magen Avraham, subsection 1). That is to say: for if even at the time he remembers he does not touch them – he might forget about them entirely, and come to lightheadedness or to passing gas or to a fixed sleep. And similar to this I found in the book Or Zarua HaGadol (siman 585), and this is his wording: A person is obligated to touch… Therefore a person must, when he is wearing tefillin, remember that tefillin are upon him and not distract his mind from them, so that he does not sleep in them and does not pass gas in them. For because he remembers that he bears the Honored Name upon him – he does not come to lightheadedness, and he grasps the fear of Heaven in his heart… Therefore when a person directs his heart in his prayer or in Halacha – this is not a distraction of the mind, for all the more so there is fear of Hashem. And we conclude in the chapter "He Who Sleeps" that one may sleep in them a brief sleep… Thus far his words. Behold, the main intention is so that he will come to fear of Heaven and not to lightheadedness. And a brief sleep is permitted, as this is a human necessity. (And with this the difficulty of the Sha'agat Aryeh, siman 39, is answered, for behold, laughter and lightheadedness are forbidden regardless, see there. And according to what I wrote it works out well, for this leads to that. And that which we say in Shabbat 12a: A person may go out with tefillin on the eve of Shabbat at nightfall, since he is obligated to touch them – he will certainly remember them, see there, this is its explanation: since he must not refrain from touching them every time he remembers, he will certainly remember and touch them, and remove them from upon himself at nightfall. Examine it and you will find it simple.)

But if so, it is puzzling what the Tur and Shulchan Aruch wrote in Yoreh Deah siman 388, and this is their wording: An avel must settle his mind to direct his heart toward the tefillin, so that he does not divert his mind from them. But at the time of a funeral oration and weeping, he should not wear them. Thus far their words, and this is from the words of the Ramban in Torat HaAdam, see there. And if heseach hadaat is nothing other than lightheadedness, then on the contrary, the avel has a broken heart within him and is far from lightheadedness, so what heseach hadaat is relevant here (Sha'agat Aryeh ibid.)? But in truth, it is not difficult at all: for we do not say that heseach hadaat is lightheadedness, but rather actual diversion of the mind, in order not to come to lightheadedness. Rather, this is what we are saying: that the intention is not to think every single moment about the tefillin, but rather when he remembers and touches them, but he will remember automatically and through this he will not come to lightheadedness. However, this too is obvious, that when one wears tefillin he must be in awe and in joy, in the manner of "and rejoice with trembling." And so it is proven from the beginning of the chapter "Ein Omdin" that one must be in joy. And this is what Abaye replied there: I am wearing tefillin, meaning: and from this I am joyful. But when his heart is broken and he is in sadness—this too is called heseach hadaat. That is to say: that he diverts his mind from the joy of a mitzvah. And this is what our teachers said: that an avel must settle his mind..., meaning: to settle his mind so that he is not in great sadness, in order to direct his heart toward the tefillin so that there will be joy of a mitzvah. And therefore, at the time of a funeral oration and weeping he does not wear them, for it is impossible to have the joy of a mitzvah at the time of the act.

The Rambam in the fourth chapter wrote: One who is in pain and one whose mind is not settled is exempt from tefillin. For one who dons tefillin is forbidden to divert his mind from them. Thus far his words, and so wrote the Tur and Shulchan Aruch below in siman 38. And this is the explanation: that since he is in pain, or his mind is not settled, he will certainly forget about them entirely and come to levity. And that is to say, that he will flatulate in them or sleep a fixed sleep. And aside from this, one must be in the joy of a mitzvah. And behold, from this there is no proof that the Rambam would disagree with what has been explained. And see what I wrote in siman 38, section 14.

However, he further wrote there: A person is obligated to touch his tefillin the entire time they are upon him, so that he does not divert his mind from them even for a single moment. For their sanctity is greater than the sanctity of the tzitz, as the tzitz contains only one Name, while these contain twenty-one Names of Yud-Heh in the one of the head, and a corresponding number in the one of the hand. Thus far his words; behold, he wrote "that he does not divert his mind even for a single moment." But if so, it is not understood what he wrote afterward, that one may sleep in them a brief sleep, see there. For behold, there are many moments in which he diverts his mind from them. And there is one who says that there is a measure for how long it is forbidden to divert one's mind from them, and that is approximately the time of walking one hundred cubits, and a brief sleep is less than this measure and therefore it is permitted (Sha'agat Aryeh there). But it is impossible to say so, for behold, the Rambam wrote "even a moment." And there is one who says that since he covers the tefillin, as is explained there—there is no prohibition of diversion of the mind in this (Artzot HaChaim). And there is no logical merit to this at all, as is understood.

And for me, from incidental sleep there is no difficulty at all, for a person is compelled to sleep and is then exempt from all the mitzvot. And what relevance does hesech hadaat have then? And the rabbis did not burden him to remove them from his head because they estimated that in such a short time he would not come to flatulence, but at that time there is no obligation upon him. For at the time of sleep we are like the dead, and therefore we bless "Who restores souls to dead corpses," and what obligation pertains to a person then? However, regarding the essence of the matter, it is difficult according to the method of the Rambam: for how is it possible not to have hesech hadaat even for a moment? And if so, how shall he think during prayer and Torah, since all his thought is on the tefillin? Therefore, it appears in my humble opinion that the Rambam only spoke of a time when one is idle, or engaged in worldly needs. But at the time of prayer and study, even the Rambam would admit to this. Yet it does not imply so from their words. (And according to the Rambam, that which is in Shabbat 12a which we wrote at the end of section 2 works out well with simplicity, see there. Examine and you will find it easy.)

When he touches them – he touches the shel yad first, and afterward the shel rosh. For just as he does during their placement, so too during their touching. As it is written: "And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand," and afterward: "and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes." And when he says "and you shall bind them" – he shall touch the shel yad, and when he says "and they shall be" – he shall touch the shel rosh. But when he removes the tefillin – he removes the shel rosh first and afterward the shel yad, because it is written: "and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes" – that all the time they are between your eyes, there shall be two. And before he removes the shel rosh, he shall remove the strap of the yad from the middle finger. And he shall remove them while standing, for just as he places them while standing, so too is their removal. Therefore, those who place the shel yad while sitting – shall remove it also while sitting, and only the shel rosh shall they remove while standing. And it is the custom of the sages to kiss the tefillin at the time of their placement and at the time of their removal, and it is a display of affection for the mitzvah.

Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote in section 2 that one should place in the bag the shel rosh and upon it the shel yad, so that when he comes to don them – he will encounter the shel yad first. Thus far his words. And even though the shel rosh is of greater sanctity than the shel yad, nevertheless, there is no concern in that the shel yad is placed upon the shel rosh. And specifically Torah and Prophets where the difference is very great – it is forbidden to place Prophets upon the Torah, as I wrote in Yoreh Deah siman 282. But regarding the difference between the shel yad and the shel rosh – there is no concern. And the proof: for they permitted there to place Prophets upon Hagiographa, and Hagiographa upon Prophets, for certainly their sanctity is not equal. Rather, since the difference is not so distant – there is no concern (Magen Avraham subsection 4). And there are those who were accustomed to make two pouches (ibid.). And our custom is to place the shel rosh on the right side, and the shel yad on the left side. And we have already mentioned this in siman 25 section 19. And there are those who are meticulous regarding how they wrap the straps upon the tefillin, because the sanctity of the tefillin is much greater than the straps. Therefore they wrap them by themselves like wings. But there is no concern at all in this since such is the way of their use, and just as one wraps a cloth around the Sefer Torah. And similarly, by wrapping the straps around them they are preserved well. And so we are accustomed. And also in this there are those who are accustomed that the dalet of the knot of the shel rosh – they place upon the ma'avarta and not under the ma'avarta, for since it is from the name "Shaddai" – it is not fitting that it be placed at its bottom. And they wrap the straps around the edges (see Magen Avraham subsection 4). And one removes the shel rosh with the left hand to show that their separation is difficult for him (ibid. subsection 3).